Faribault accountant admits stealing $432K; bought lake home

A 39-year-old accountant has admitted to forging more than 100 checks from his southern Minnesota onetime employer’s account and collecting hundreds of thousands of dollars that he used to buy a lake home and pay his bills.

Ronald L. Schaeffer, of Faribault, pleaded guilty last week in federal court in Minneapolis with bank fraud totaling $432,504 while he was the sole in-house accountant for Environmental Tillage Systems Inc. of Faribault.

He used the money from August 2008 to April 2012 to build a lake house in Elysian, Minn. He also was charged with using the money to make payments on home-equity and car loans.

Schaeffer faces up to 30 years in prison, as well as fines and orders of forfeiture. Sentencing has yet to be scheduled.

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